Are You Gonna' Eat That

Does advertisement affect the way people act

Specific Question

Does communication affect peoples eating habbits

Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that the subjects will choose to ignore the sign and will take the junk food even if they know it is unhealthy.

Variables

Independent Variable: Posters and signs

Dependent Variable: People.

Variables That Need To Be Controlled: Amount of food, Amount of people, Type of food.

---

---

---

---

General Plan

In this experiment the experimenter figured out if communication will change whether people eat healthier. The experimenter gave the option of carrots and celery or Oreos and a Donut. For the second experiment the experimenter will place a message next to the vegetables saying “Eat Your Veggies”.

Experimental Design

Resources and Budget Table

Material	Place	Price
Baby Carrots	hanaford
Celery Sticks	hanaford
Original Oreo Cookies	hanaford	3.99
Donut	hannaford
Signs about healthy stuff	Computer	Free
Camera	JBES	Free

Data Table

Time Line

1. March 19 hand out permission slips (JBES) 2. March 21 Run first trial (JBES) 3. March 23 Run second trial (JBES)

---

---

---

---

Detailed Procedure

1.) Hand out permission slips to people who want to participate in the experiment
2.) Lay food out in front of people who are in the experiment
3.) Tell them that they can choose healthy food or the junk food
4.) Take pictures of tray w/ veggies, ,junk food, people eating, and the message sign
5.) Record what each chose on spreadsheet
6.) For the second experiment, put a message in a napkin dispenser and place it with the food
7.) Repeat steps 2 through 5

Photo List

Tray w/ veggies
junk food
people eating
message

---

---

---

---

---

Results

All Raw Data

Tables and Graphs

The results were that 3 of the 3 subjects ate unhealthy when the signs were not placed next to the junk food. The mean of the Not Educated - Junk was 100% ate junk food. The results were that 2 of the 3 subjects ate healthy when the signs were placed next to the junk food. The mean of the Educated - Junk was 33.3% and the mean of the Educated - Healthy was 66.6%.

Photos

Student's choosing veggies


Student's choosing Junk food


Junk Food


Healthy food


Message

---

---

---

---

---

Data Analysis

Conclusion

The experiment was: Can advertisement change a student's eating habits. The experimenter lay out a tray of Carrots and Celery and a tray of Doughnuts and Cookies and asked the Subjects to choose the Veggies or the Junk food. Subjects chose the junk over the veggies. For the next trial the experimenter put out a sign that says, “Eat Your Veggies” and 2 out of 3 Subjects ate veggies.

---

---

---

---

---

Discussion

The Experiment went very well. The experiment was: Can advertisement change a student's eating habits. This question was answered, the answer was that 2 out of 3 kids chose the veggies when the sign was placed next to the junk food. My hypothesis was incorrect because 66% chose healthy and 33% chose unhealthy when the signs were placed.
My original experiment was to see if kids ate more of their lunch when they were told that they will do better in school, but some people were purposely messing it up.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

People who run cafeterias could use my results to get people to eat healthier

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine if advertising can change a student's eating habits. It was was hypothesized that the subjects will not see the sign and will take the junk food even if they know it is unhealthy. Trials were conducted where the experimenter lay out a tray of Carrots and Celery and a tray of Doughnuts and Cookies and asked the Subjects to choose the Veggies or the Junk food. All subjects chose the junk over the veggies. For the next trial the experimenter put out a sign that said, “Eat Your Veggies” and 2 out of 3 Subjects ate veggies. The hypothesis was not supported by the results.